


turncoat

by turncoats



Category: PRISTIN (Band)
Genre: F/F, idk how to not write yuwoo sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 06:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10758576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turncoats/pseuds/turncoats
Summary: and though the static signalled the end of their little act, they still sung on, and that should've meant something.





	1. chasing a feeling

**Author's Note:**

> Title : "turncoat"  
> Genre : thriller, slice of life  
> Pairing : minkyung/yebin; kyungwon/eunwoo because that shit is good shit  
> Length : chaptered  
> Status : ongoing  
> POV : 3rd person

There are certain pros and cons to being the new girl in town; especially in a town with all its residents having lived their whole lives there. You would be the center of attention– you would have a spotlight following you around wherever you went. You would be the mystery everybody would be bent on solving.

  
Minkyung was never one to bask in attention, but she always had an eye for mysteries. In her story, it would be the other way around– instead of the people in that once preppy town trying to figure her out, it would seem as if she’s the one who needed to get her hands dirty to unveil that place’s secrets.

She wouldn’t know that until much later– at face value, that town was just like every other she’s lived in, save for the rather eerie fact that everybody knew each other there. Nobody has left before, and nobody has arrived since– well, until she came along, at least.

 

When she hopped off of that moving truck, her dad following suit, everything felt quite normal. Surrounding the two-story flat were normal, boring trees that had leaves, rendered crisp due the autumn climate, barely hanging on to its slender branches.

Minkyung steps towards the porch of what is her new home, noting at the dull beige of the fence poorly built surrounding the walkway to the door. The grass was a bland shade of green– but they were definitely alive, at least.

“Mind giving your old man a hand?” It’s the first time in a long while that Minkyung’s heard a voice (due to the fact that their ride there composed of catching up on the sleep that they both lost from packing up all their things— from furniture to appliances, down to every last trinket that hung on what used to be Minkyung’s room), but she nods and turns on her heel in a heartbeat. For every medium-sized box her father threw down, Minkyung catches and sets it down on the damp pavement.

“Good morning!” Minkyung thought it was way too early for anything to be good just yet, but she musters the best smile she could manage despite still being groggy, and turns to see a girl, a lot shorter than she was– but perhaps just her age. Her eyes resembled crescents and her smile was miles brighter than the sun on that day– Minkyung mindlessly notes at the girl’s prominent dimples which adorn the skin right below her cheekbones.

“Hi.” There was no blander way to respond to such a vibrant greeting, and Minkyung was sure of it. But it’s 7 o’clock in the morning, and the sun isn’t even 90 degrees up in the sky yet. Besides, there was a lot to unpack and she’s saving her energy for just that.

“Welcome to the neighborhood!” The girl finds herself giggling at her statement, and Minkyung is correct in guessing why. “It’s the first time I’ve ever told anyone that.”

“Yeah? I heard.” At this point it seems like Minkyung is avoiding conversation of any sorts– ever since taking a quick glimpse of the girl’s face once, she hasn’t resumed eye contact, and simply carried on with stacking the boxes over each other. She didn’t even realize that their conversation was hushed, so much so that her father didn’t even notice the presence of the petite girl.

“Would you like a hand, sir? I’m your neighbor to the right and my mom told me to send her regards.” She chirped in a much louder, more noticeable voice.  
Minkyung’s dad looked almost shocked— like it’s been a while since he’s seen actual people besides his daughter. He was fazed for a moment before he puts on a flustered smile.

“No need, darling, but I think what I would best appreciate is if you would introduce my daughter to the rest of this town…” He pauses, gaze scanning the vicinity, “if anybody is already as awake as you are, that is.”

The girl laughs a chuckle so girlish– so dainty and fragile– perhaps the way any parent would want their daughter to sound when laughing. There was no other way to describe it.

“Unfortunately, nobody else of our age group can be possibly awake at this moment. Our house is well and alive, though, so if she’d like to spend breakfast with us, I’m sure my mom would love that.”

She said this with so much certainty in her voice, so much that Minkyung feels inclined to drag herself into the girl’s house (did she even introduce herself by name yet?). Minkyung turns to her father, a mess of sweat from moving the boxes in that odd autumn heat wave, waiting for a gesture of ‘yes’ or ‘no’– with preference for the prior.

“It would be best.” Minkyung’s father was trying a wee bit too hard to match the girl’s energy— and it was amusing to watch on his daughter’s end. Minkyung sports an awkward smile as she side steps towards her new neighbor, a hand moving to wipe the thin gloss of sweat coating her forehead.

“Minkyung… by the way.” She pathetically mumbles, feeling much like she was but a lit match in the presence of the brightest star of that constellation.

“Nice to meet you, Minkyung! You can call me Yewon.” At long last, sunshine has a name, and it was about just as radiant as she was. By then they started walking towards the house to the right, and though this wasn’t what Minkyung would usually agree to doing, she figured that it would be a good start in that new town.

“Where did you live before ending up here?”

“I… move around.” That was the question she avoided most of all, because answering it entailed explaining every single nitty-gritty detail of her life, the grueling process of her parents’ divorce included.

“Well, I hope you find reason to stay this time around.” How could a person sound so sincere, even if you’ve only just met? It baffled Minkyung– but she guesses it came with Yewon’s personality. It was like her words only gave away a fraction of her sincerity— truthfully, it was all in her eyes.

 

Breakfast was just as Minkyung expected: a textbook trope of a perfect family. A mom about twice as happy as Yewon was, and a dad about to leave for work (but without finishing his morning coffee). They had bacon and eggs which was a breakfast Minkyung hadn’t enjoyed homemade ever before, and your choice of either milk, orange juice, or coffee (Minkyung, of course, chose the orange juice– she’s sworn off of milk after she realized that she needed to stop growing taller). It was a good morning, the kind that Minkyung has not experienced for years now. In fact, her memory fails to recall if there had been an instance like that ever in her life– but she likes to think that she did.

“Will you be going to the local high school, dear?”

Minkyung bites on her lower lip, dabbing her lips with a napkin as she nods. She looks at Yewon’s mother meekly, still a tad bit too shy to feel comfortable with having spent breakfast there. It was customary in that town, Yewon has repeated several times, but that didn’t make much of a difference for Minkyung.

“I can’t wait ‘til you meet the rest of the kids. They’re all very lovely.” The elderly woman pauses, her eyes set on the dishes she’s washing as she murmurs, “getting along with one of them entails getting along with all of them. They’ve all watched each other grow up, after all.”

It almost sends a chill down on Minkyung’s spine, how eerily her voice softened into a barely audible whisper. She dismisses the thought for now, but keeps it safe in her head for a later time.

“I think I have to go back and help my dad unpack. There’s quite a bit and we didn’t hire a moving crew, so…” Slowly, Minkyung pushes out her seat (emitting a slight, screeching sound) and stands, towering over everybody in that very room.

“Can I–”

“No, you need to finish your homework first.” The voice of Yewon’s mom reverts back to its prior tonality. Minkyung turns to Yewon to see her sporting the cutest pout she’s sure she’s ever seen in her nineteen years of being alive.

“I’ll visit you later, then, Minkyung…” Yewon utters, evidently disheartened, dragging herself up the winding staircase and into her room. Minkyung then quietly excuses herself, scurrying back to her house.

 

“Were they nice folk?” Minkyung’s dad says through grit teeth, pushing the barely-functioning fridge into its intended position. She, on the other hand, was unpacking the box marked “MINKYUNG’S THINGS” in thick, bright red ink.

“They ought to be. We’re the new neighbors.” She replied flatly. He takes this as a sign that she doesn’t really want to speak about it.

“I like the kid, though. I bet you will be great friends.”

Minkyung does not respond, and they spend the rest of the day putting together what would then be their home. Something did not feel right between the two but it remains unspoken of. They no longer speak of Yewon and her parents, but what they do not know is that they remain a dining table topic for that household– and every household of that town on that evening.

 

The following day, Minkyung dresses herself in long-sleeved clothing— her favorite dark blue sweater. She was going to start school in the local high school today, in the middle of the academic year. It wasn’t something new to her. Every time she and her dad moved around, she had to quickly adjust to how things worked in whichever high school was closest to their home.

There was no need to be driven to school; it was only a few blocks away.  
Minkyung tiptoes past her father, snoring and passed out on the bed. He reeks of alcohol— the whole house strangely stunk of alcohol. It almost makes her nauseous, but she somehow manages. Her mind was ready to jump to all kinds of conclusions but she stopped herself from passing any judgment. She was going to be late for her first day if she even tried.

Minkyung wishes she had made a promise to meet Yewon at school. Despite the small population of the town, the school grounds were literally massive– bigger than any other school that she had attended prior. Naturally, she garners a few strange looks as she takes her steps with an obvious air of uncertainty, hands clutching onto the straps of her backpack as if her life depended on it. It was way too early to assume if these grounds would be a war zone on her end, but it already felt as if it was something completely unnatural for a new face to surface in everybody’s view, all too suddenly.

She awkwardly veers herself past everybody and hopes that she manages to find the office for students’ affairs without having to engage in an awkward ask-and-tell with anybody, when everybody already seemed to be eager to talk to her.

“Are you––” A voice startles Minkyung, and the way she jumps slightly therefore startles that female as well. The two girls stand there, frozen for a good ten seconds before both of them crack into a slight chuckle, a small smile. It was Yewon. She felt more comfortable in her skin already.


	2. what's in a name?

“I was playfully going to ask if you were the new girl, considering how everybody is looking at you like you’re the first good thing they’ve served in the cafeteria in years.” Yewon is speaking, but Minkyung couldn’t help but stare at the way the petite girl’s hair was styled– parted into two pigtails at the back, a long stream of chestnut brown hair flowing in front of her shoulders. She looked more like a kid than she did yesterday, when her hair was down, and Minkyung thought that was impossible. Yewon inevitably notices this, and brings her hands up to run her fingers through the locks briefly. “My mom did it for me…” She sounds dazed as she explains, but snaps out of it in the next second.

“It’s fits you, no worries.” Minkyung attempts to play it off cool, “could you help me find my way to the office of the Center for Student Affairs? This place is… massive.” She wishes she was exaggerating, but she wasn’t; it still amazed her how big a school for such a little student population could be. Without any hesitation, Yewon nods, that unwavering smile spread on her lips.

“Would you mind if I introduced you to my friends as well?” The question takes Minkyung aback, and she wasn’t quite sure how to respond– and Yewon sees this in her expression, which makes her laugh that light, bubbly laugh of hers. “They won’t bite. Promise.”

“In that case, I don’t think I mind. But– Principal’s office first.” Minkyung sports a cheeky grin, still somewhat anxious to meet Yewon’s friends. Her mind flew off to thoughts of whether she’d actually click with them– if they’d actually become her friends as well. Those are thoughts she hasn’t thought of in a really long while.

 

After making their stop ‘round the principal’s office (to find that Minkyung pretty much shares five out of her seven classes with Yewon), it seems like Yewon is more excited than Minkyung in the prospect of Minkyung meeting her friends. With her small hand gripping onto Minkyung’s wrists, Yewon steers through everybody in the hallways– all of which having eyes all too bore on her– as they made their way to the open grounds of the school. They’re approaching one of the many picnic tables scattered around the open area; the one right underneath the big, shady tree that shook every time the breeze flew by in rhythmic gusts. There were three girls seated there, all looking in their general direction.

“Yewon, do I really have to–” Minkyung chokes up mid-sentence when one of the girls– the one with light strawberry blonde hair, hops up from her seat, skipping over to the both of them with a bright smile on her lips.

“Look what Yewon reeled in.” She utters, and Minkyung isn’t quite sure how to feel about as if being likened to a fish (in the sense of being reeled in). “Guys! Come over.” She calls out to the remaining two girls seated on the table. One was tall– about as tall as Minkyung was, surprisingly– with a short, blond bob that ended about an inch above her shoulders. The other was about as tall as the girl who skipped over, but had jet black hair that flowed until right above her hip– Minkyung also notes at how pretty this girl is, her features were inexplicably well-put together, like there was some kind of mathematical equation of angles and shapes that was the makeup of her face alone. It was quite hard not to stare.

“Don’t refer to her like she’s a piece of meat, jeez, Eunwoo.” Yewon whines as she gives the strawberry blonde girl– Eunwoo, if Minkyung heard that correctly– a look. Eunwoo lets out a hearty chuckle as she shakes her head slightly, giving the top of Yewon’s hair a playful– probably mocking– pat.

“It’s not everyday you come across a new kid. You can’t really blame her.” The black-haired girl speaks up, maintaining her indifferent expression for a few moments before so suddenly putting on a smile that, simply put, enchanted. “I’m sorry for my friend here,” she gestures at Eunwoo, “she’s just… obviously a little too excited. Hi. I’m Siyeon.”  
Eunwoo audibly huffs as she crosses her arms underneath her chest, her brows knitting together as she looks off to the side. The other blonde girl emerges from behind her, only to bend down and hug her shoulders, her cheek pressing against the top of her head. “She’s our little baby, we’re so sorry.” The girl’s voice was a lot deeper than Minkyung expected– for someone who had such a feminine face, at least.

“I’m Kyungwon.” Eunwoo’s expression softens as she looks up, as if trying to gaze at Kyungwon, who, at this point, was already pinching the softness of Eunwoo’s cheek and pulling on it– as if in emphasis of how she’s their baby of the group of friends. “And this is Eunwoo.” Kyungwon blurts out in a high-pitched voice, followed by obnoxious laughter– it was almost cackling, really.

Yewon lets go of Minkyung’s wrist, striding over to the rest of her friends, positioning herself in between Siyeon and Kyungwon. They all just looked at her expectantly (even Eunwoo who finally had her attention away from Kyungwon), sporting half-smiles, anticipating what she has to say at this point. It almost looked like they were posing for a photograph at least in Minkyung’s perspective. Was she really going to have to step in the frame, despite it already being a beautiful picture already, even without her?

“Eunwoo’s just trying to act cool.” Yewon chuckles, shaking her head. Eunwoo is still pouting, and she’s taking a stance as if threatening to jump on Yewon then and there– but Kyungwon still had her restrained, her lithe arms still enveloping the shorter girl’s shoulders. “Guys,” Yewon starts again, in sing-song, “this is Minkyung. Our next door neighbor– she moved into the house in between me and…” a slight pause, “Yebin’s.”

The girls all nod in unison in understanding. Yebin. The name resounds in Minkyung’s head, but she’s not quite sure why. It was the worst time to be thinking about such trivial matters, however, especially when she realizes that Yewon had to introduce her name to the others as if she didn’t know how to speak.  
“I know you’re all not used to new people stepping into the picture all of a sudden… like I did,” Minkyung swallows a slight lump that formed in her throat, her pupils struggling to stay focused on one spot, “but I hope we can all be good friends nonetheless.”

 

Lunch time passed, and even after so little a time spent together, Minkyung feels as though she had the small group of friends figured out already– Eunwoo was, as everyone already stated, the baby of the group. She was clingy, and her lithe limbs would, one way or another, be around or on top of Kyungwon, who would gladly reciprocate. While it could have seemed as if it would’ve been Yewon who would be the baby of the group, it was quite far from that– Yewon, despite herself, was one of the mature ones along with Siyeon. Siyeon, on the other hand, sports an indifferent expression half the time (and that seriously highlights her beauty), but in those instances when she’d be smiling or putting on a bright expression, it’s rather magical– the most enthralling she’s ever seen, Minkyung dares say.

 

“So, what do you think of them?” The rest of the kids she had just met were walking ahead of them (they’ve found that they all share their next scheduled class), and Yewon takes advantage of this time to ask about Minkyung’s first impression on her friends. “Honestly, all of them were acting a bit weird… they’re not usually like this, I promise! It’s just that they’re excited to meet you, I think. It gets a little boring when nobody new comes along for the entirety of your life thus far, you know.”

“Yeah, it’s cool. I get it.” But did Minkyung really understand? That’s questionable– though she wouldn’t ever admit it out loud, it’s a fact that she still found it strange that nobody has ever come around. And that brings about another thought– who, then, lived in that house prior?

“Yewon?” Minkyung hesitates, but Yewon is already looking at her, a look of surmise painted across her features. She takes a deep breath before continuing, “you mentioned a name a while ago. Yebin.” The name feels strange in her mouth, and it rolled off of her tongue unnaturally. Though just slightly, she notices Yewon’s expression tense up. “Does she go here? Or is she an adult? Or–”

“She does go here. Well she did. Nobody’s really quite sure when she’s coming back.” Yewon’s lips stretch into a thin line, and she shakes her head slightly. “Originally, she’s one of the people we usually hang out with. Until… well, yeah, stuff just kind of… happened? I really don’t know how to put it.”

“I see.” Minkyung replies flatly, a dead giveaway that she wasn’t quite satisfied with Yewon’s answer.

“When she comes along again, I’ll be sure to introduce you!” Yewon’s delivery of that statement almost sounded empty, as though she were dictating an obviously empty promise. And this somehow plucks at Minkyung’s interest; it struck her as something that she should at least know more about, considering how she was going to be a part of the picture that is that town, at least for the time being.

 

Chemistry class composed of a whole lot of staring. Not at the video that their teacher had asked them to watch (while she stepped out and, Minkyung only assumed, spent the whole time talking to somebody on the phone), but instead at her. Everyone’s gazes were sticky like honey, and there was nobody to call them out for it.  
Minkyung slumps down on her desk, arms crossed over the other to cushion her head. To her left was Kyungwon who had Eunwoo’s head against her opposite shoulder (Kyungwon already told Minkyung that the girl had probably spent the night playing games on her phone, or studying), and Siyeon who was diligently writing notes– she was probably the only one in the class who was actually doing that, as the professor asked them to.

Her eyes then peer over to the right, where she sees Yewon nodding off to sleep as well, but trying her absolute best not to. It was quite the endearing sight. She turns her head to face front again, then heaves a barely audible sigh in wild wonder of whether or not she should be taking notes like Siyeon was. Was she even going to last until their curriculum’s finals week? That wasn’t even something that was certain.

 

Yewon had extracurricular activities after classes (to Minkyung’s disappointment). As much as Minkyung wanted to tag along, it was the music club, and she wasn’t quite confident enough to immerse herself as hands-on with another group of people – it was tiring enough to have integrated herself into the small group of friends’ after after all.

And so she had to walk home with Kyungwon and Eunwoo (and Eunwoo was fast asleep on Kyungwon’s back, still– Siyeon clarified this was a usual thing, and reassured that there wasn’t much to worry about). The walk was short and awkward, with Kyungwon asking the usual questions of ‘where did you live before here?’ and ‘who do live with?’; and Minkyung gave the generic answers of ‘I move a lot’ and ‘just my dad, my mom is working overseas’, in between giggling at the slight noises of snoring that Eunwoo was making in her unconsciousness.

“Eunwoo and I live down the opposite road. I’ll drop her off at her house. Will you be fine?”  
Minkyung nods slightly, giving a little smile. “Thanks for walking with me, Kyungwon. Send my thanks to Eunwoo too, once she wakes up.”

“Sure,” Kyungwon laughs. “I hope you ease up to our little group of friends, too. We only have each other, you know. We can’t count on our parents to understand… anything, really.” Kyungwon was so bright– Minkyung wasn’t quite sure where all of that so suddenly came from. “You can tell us anything. Don’t feel like an outcast when you’re not. I hope you don’t make that mistake.”

“I… I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Minkyung’s head starts to throb, and it shines through in the weakness of her smile. She’s convinced that she’s done enough thinking for the day. They bid their goodbyes one more time before they went off their own respective ways.

 

Minkyung treads carefully– slowly. In all honesty, she didn’t want to go home yet. The undersides of her shoes scrape along the pavement that seemed to be perpetually damp– perhaps due to the naturally humid climate of that eerie town. With her thumbs hooked onto the straps of her backpack (out of habit), she found that she was starting to realize quite a bit more about the town all by herself.

Firstly; though the school could be perceived as seething with grandeur, the education was not. Eunwoo, five minutes on a passive-aggressive rant about just that. Kyungwon explains that, despite herself, Eunwoo was in fact one of the brightest students in their batch. While Eunwoo plays it off that she’s only ever sleepless because she’s extremely conscious that her Overwatch ranking would drop from its already exquisite position, the truth is that she’s studying in advance for almost everything, considering how all the pressure in the world were put on her shoulders by her parents.

Secondly; while everybody there practically watched each other grow up, this did not mean that they were all friendly with each other. “When you spend your whole life seeing each other from your icky kindergarten selves to present, it’s not hard to pinpoint all the negative things about them rather than the positive things,” Siyeon explained right after sneering at this one boy (who she referred to as Seokmin); an upperclassman that had been trying to slide himself into the girls’ lives for the longest time now.

Third, and finally; the eerie town holds a secret– an elephant in the room nobody dares talk about. As Minkyung is on her way home, she finds herself slowing down and eventually stopping right in front of the house to the left of theirs. It looked lousy, and Minkyung assumes it unkempt, judging by the orange leaves stacking up on the front yard. The paint on the fence is peeling off, and on the house itself already dulling. There are strange, inexplicable dents on the walls. At this point, she is staring– little did she know somebody is staring back.

 

“H… hello?” A quirky voice emerges from behind her, which startles her. She freezes, unsure of what to do at this point. The sound of rubber squelching against moisture-laden cement becomes more and more apparent– and her initial thought is to now walk away, but her legs don’t allow her to. It was like she was paralyzed.

“You must be the person who moved in next door.” The stranger speaks up again, as she now comes into Minkyung’s view. A small girl with hair long and black, about a whole head shorter than she was. Minkyung blinks in profuse, showcasing her confusion.

“... Yebin?”

“I–” the girl clutches the paper bag overflowing with groceries closer to her stomach, “how did you know my name?”

Bad move, Kim Minkyung.


End file.
